What The Cast Of Divergent Looks Like Today

In the wake of massively popular book and movie franchises like "The Hunger Games," young adult dystopian stories became all the rage in the mid 2010s. The towering trend reached new heights with the release of "Divergent." Adapted from Veronica Roth's 2011 book of the same name, Divergent tells a story set in a futuristic version of Chicago, where people are sorted into "factions" based solely on shallow interpretations of personality types. The whole system is thrown into chaos when Beatrice "Tris" Prior is marked as Divergent. This means she doesn't fit into the recognized categories of Abnegation (selflessness), Amity (peacefulness), Candor (honesty), Dauntless (bravery), or Erudite (intellect). She stands alone, unmarked, and odd — and that's what makes her threatening to the post-apocalyptic dystopia she calls home.

The first "Divergent" film was released in 2014, and was quickly followed up by "Insurgent" and "Allegiant," which were released in 2015 and 2016, respectively. For the first film, director Neil Burger ("The Illusionist," "Limitless") assembled an all-star cast full of fresh faces, Oscar-winners, popular young performers, and television staples. What have these talented stars been up to since then? We're here to answer that question with this look at what the cast of "Divergent" looks like today, and what they've been filling their time with.

When Tris arrives in the Dauntless faction, she's tested by Tobias "Four" Eaton (Theo James), an instructor who is assigned to help new recruits learn the skills of their chosen group. Four is a tough teacher, but he takes a real liking to Tris. Tris, for her part, works extra hard to overcome the innate disadvantage she faces from her origin in a peaceful, weak faction like Abnegation. When Tris is very nearly forced out of the Dauntless faction due to her lack of skills, Four decides to personally train her. This attention works, and Tris becomes a better fighter. But Four isn't everything he appears to be, and ultimately, he reveals his shocking secret: He's actually the son of a strict Abnegation leader himself. This truth leads to a romantic connection between him and Tris.

Born and raised in England, James was best known for 2012's "Underworld: Awakening" prior to his role in "Divergent." Alongside reprising his role in "Insurgent" and "Allegiant," James appeared in the 2016 film "The Benefactor" and in the "Underworld" sequel "Blood Wars," which hit movie theaters that same year. In the time since "Divergent" debuted, James has shown up in a variety of movies, including 2018's "How It Ends," 2018's "London Fields," and 2020's "Archive." 

In 2022, James appeared in "The Time Traveler's Wife" and made headlines for his role as Cameron Sullivan in Season 2 of "The White Lotus."

Over the course of her childhood in the Abnegation faction, Tris enjoys a certain level of privilege, due to the fact that her father, Andrew Prior (Tony Goldwyn), is one of the faction's leaders, alongside Marcus Eaton — who, it turns out, is Four's father. Because Abnegation, known as the "selfless" faction, is in charge of the government, Andrew is especially powerful. As a result, he feels particularly betrayed when Tris doesn't choose Abnegation. He refuses to even visit his daughter after she joins Dauntless.

For fans of "Scandal," it was a true delight to see Goldwyn pop up in "Divergent" and "Insurgent." From 2012 to 2018, Goldwyn played United States President Fitzgerald "Fitz" Grant throughout all seven seasons of Shonda Rhimes' wonderfully soapy political drama on ABC. Goldwyn is also an accomplished director and stage actor: He's directed four feature films, including 2001's "Someone Like You," 2010's "Conviction," and nine episodes of "Scandal," and has appeared in several off-Broadway plays and musicals. Since "Scandal" and "Divergent" wrapped up, Goldwyn has showed up on Netflix's 2019 original series "Chambers" alongside Uma Thurman, on HBO's 2020 science fiction epic "Lovecraft Country," and on National Geographic's "The Hot Zone."

Moving from Abnegation to Dauntless is no easy task, between Tris' lack of combat training and her naturally meek demeanor. It's made even more difficult when she crosses paths with her eventual nemesis, Peter (Miles Teller). A violent and strong member of Dauntless who was raised in Candor, Peter is a dangerous combination of ruthlessness, honesty, and brutality. Unsurprisingly, he defeats Tris in hand-to-hand combat right off the bat, and also viciously attacks anyone who ranks above him. Later, when Tris gets stronger and manages to beat him in a fight, he kidnaps her while she's sleeping and tortures her until Four intervenes.

Before he was getting sinister in "Divergent," Teller played opposite Woodley as her love interest in 2013's "The Spectacular Now." Alongside the release of Divergent in 2014, he appeared in Damien Chazelle's film "Whiplash," which earned a number of Oscar nods and a few wins, including one for Teller's co-star J.K. Simmons. He also popped up in two 2014 romantic comedies, "That Awkward Moment" and "Two Night Stand," appearing in the former alongside Zac Efron, Mackenzie Davis, and Michael B. Jordan, and with Analeigh Tipton in the latter. Teller went on to appear in both "Insurgent" and "Allegiant," as well as other big-budget films like 2015's "Fantastic Four," indie projects like 2016's "Get a Job," and searing dramas like 2017's "Thank You for Your Service." In 2022, he made a big splash in Hollywood by playing Rooster in "Top Gun: Maverick."

Tris only makes a few friends when she arrives in Dauntless. Luckily, they turn out to be stalwart allies like Christina (Zoë Kravitz), who proves to be extremely important throughout the entire series. Another Dauntless transplant — she originally came from Candor — Christina is smart and industrious, but usually suffers in hand-to-hand combat. Though she and Tris occasionally butt heads, they always team up together, and even get tattoos of the Dauntless symbol to celebrate their newfound faction.

The "Divergent" films were just the start of a lengthy and fruitful collaboration between Kravitz and Woodley, who, in 2017, would appear as two of the leading ladies of HBO's star-studded miniseries "Big Little Lies." Kravitz plays a young yoga teacher named Bonnie whose calm exterior is shattered by a shocking suburban murder. Kravitz has appeared in a ton of other projects as well, including the short-lived 2020 Hulu reboot of "High Fidelity," which, in a modern twist, cast her as John Cusack's character Rob, renamed "Robyn." She also appeared as Leta Lestrange in 2018's "Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald," as Toast the Knowing, one of Immortan Joe's wives, in 2015's "Mad Max: Fury Road," and as the one and only Catwoman in Matt Reeves' 2022 reboot of the Batman film franchise.

One of the older leaders of the Dauntless faction, Max (Mekhi Phifer) has given all of his responsibilities to Eric by the time "Divergent" begins, despite the fact that he wanted Four to follow in his footsteps. Though Max isn't quite as cruel as Eric, he's also not an ally to Tris or any of the Dauntless rebels. He eventually ties his fate to the Erudite enemies.

Phifer was already a popular actor by the time he appeared in "Divergent" and its sequels. He is likely best known for his work with Spike Lee in 1995's "Clockers," and for his six-year stint on the popular medical series "E.R." Over the years, Phifer has carved out a solid career on the small screen, appearing on shows like "Lie to Me," "Curb Your Enthusiasm," "Torchwood," "White Collar," "House of Lies," "Frequency," "Chicago P.D.," "Truth Be Told," and the 2020 Hulu original series "Love, Victor."

Abnegation is supposed to be the selfless faction, but one of its leaders, Marcus Eaton (Ray Stevenson), isn't exactly a caring or giving person ... especially when it comes to his family. As husband to Evelyn (Naomi Watts, who appears as the character in "Insurgent" and "Allegiant") and father to Four, Marcus is an abusive and cruel man. His behavior drives Evelyn into the world without a faction, and Four into escaping Abnegation in favor of Dauntless.

A veteran of both the big and small screen, Stevenson was the perfect choice to portray the austere, inscrutable Marcus. Long before his work in "Divergent," Stevenson was known for his leading roles in 2004's "King Arthur" and the epic HBO series "Rome." He's also beloved of superhero fans for his turns as Frank Castle, better known as the Punisher, in 2008's "Punisher: War Zone," and Volstagg, an Asgardian warrior and one of Thor's dearest friends in the first three "Thor" films. During his time in the "Divergent" film series, Stevenson also showed up on shows like "Dexter" and "Black Sails." In the movies' aftermath, the actor has taken on roles in historical dramas like "Medici," "The Spanish Princess," and "Vikings."

While Will was killed because he was under the spell of simulation serum, Albert's story is a bit harder to swallow. In "Divergent," it's shown that Albert — "Al" to his friends — isn't exactly happy to be with the Dauntless. After forming a crush on Tris, his hopes and dreams are crushed when Four gets in his way. Though he'd first been shown as soft and delicate in personality, jealousy prompts him to fall in with the wrong crowd, which almost costs Tris her life. Admittedly, Al didn't know that Peter and Drew attempted to murder her, and tried to stop it once it started, but that doesn't exactly exonerate him either. When Tris refuses to forgive him for his foolishness, Al is driven to suicide, which unsurprisingly haunts Tris later on.

The son of actor Michael Madsen, Christian Madsen was almost destined to be an actor. After "Divergent," his career door was opened. Primarily appearing in feature films, Madsen found himself in the independent sphere, often alongside his father. With roles in "Prism," "Odious," and the horror film, "Red Handed" (formerly "Children of Moloch"), he also showed up as Tex Watson in the TV movie "Manson's Lost Girls." His most notable post-"Divergent" roles though are certainly his work alongside Eddie Murphy in "Mr. Church" and as Vinny Dash in the BET+ series, "The Family Business." Madsen is also the writer, director, and star in two 2020s short films, "Dinner With Grandpa" and "Free Bird."